Classroom Ideas for Making the Learner Profile Relevant in Your Classroom
Take photos of student exemplars and action demonstrating profile behaviours
Use the language when talking with students and parents
Display each attribute with space around it for student reflection eg “ I was a risk taker when I ...”
Encourage students to look for these behaviours among peers and use as grounds for discussion
Look at each discipline – how does the profile look in each one (Example: maths)
Specialists - how do these profiles look in your discipline?
Attach Learner Profile attributes to each Unit of Inquiry to focus on
Portfolios: Include questions that ask students to identify times when they have exhibited an aspect of the Learner Profile
Translate into other languages, asking parents for help if needed
Link to the attitudes
Make the learner profile part Focus on them at assemblies, in newsletters etc.
Learner Profile Signing Gallery This pdf has a very simple outline of how these images and linked words "may" be used as a simple exercise geared towards scaffolding students in the process of reflection through discussion and sharing.
International-mindedness: the PYP perspective In the PYP, the attempt to define international-mindedness in increasingly clear terms, and the struggle to move closer to that ideal in practice, are central to the mission of PYP schools. Given the variety and complexity of PYP schools, and the elusive nature of the concept itself, it would be naive to propose any simple definition and expect it to stand up to rigorous examination. Rather, the IB would suggest that the definition is compound, reflecting a range of interrelated factors that are discussed throughout this document.
However, in examining these factors during the years since the inception of the PYP, one aspect of PYP schools emerges, not only as the most compelling, but also as the common ground on which PYP schools stand, the essence of what they are about. This is the kind of student we hope will graduate from a PYP school, the kind of student who, in the struggle to establish a personal set of values, will be laying the foundation upon which international-mindedness will develop and flourish. The attributes of such a learner are listed in the learner profile (see figure 1). The learner profile is central to the PYP definition of what it means to be internationally minded, and it directs schools to focus on the learning. IB World Schools should be proud to send out into the world students who exemplify the attributes expressed in this profile.
What are the beliefs and values that drive the PYP?
The IB is conscious that this learner profile is value-laden and, it would say, quite rightly so, for this kind of learning is what the IB supports, and it is the embodiment of what the IB believes about international education. The attributes described in the learner profile are appropriate to, and achievable by, all primary years students. The teacher needs to interpret these attributes in a manner appropriate to the age and development of the student. That said, part of the adaptability and versatility of the programme lies in what these attributes may look like from one school culture to another. In the PYP, it is both recognized and appreciated that students come into the programme from various backgrounds and with a wealth of experience. All teachers have a responsibility to assess student development in the context of the IB learner profile; it affects all students throughout the programme. Schools have a responsibility on behalf of all students to assess and report on progress in the development of the attributes of the learner profile.
What, then, is a PYP school? It is a school that, regardless of location, size or constitution, strives towards developing an internationally minded person. What is an internationally minded person? It is a person who demonstrates the attributes of the IB learner profile.
Classroom Ideas for Making the Learner Profile Relevant in Your Classroom
Take photos of student exemplars and action demonstrating profile behaviours
Use the language when talking with students and parents
Display each attribute with space around it for student reflection
eg “ I was a risk taker when I ...”
Encourage students to look for these behaviours among peers and use as grounds for discussion
Look at each discipline – how does the profile look in each one (Example: maths)
Specialists - how do these profiles look in your discipline?
Attach Learner Profile attributes to each Unit of Inquiry to focus on
Portfolios: Include questions that ask students to identify times when they have exhibited an aspect of the Learner Profile
Translate into other languages, asking parents for help if needed
Link to the attitudes
Make the learner profile part Focus on them at assemblies, in newsletters etc.
Learner Profile Signing Gallery
This pdf has a very simple outline of how these images and linked words "may" be used as a simple exercise geared towards scaffolding students in the process of reflection through discussion and sharing.
International-mindedness: the PYP perspective
In the PYP, the attempt to define international-mindedness in increasingly clear terms, and the struggle to move closer to that ideal in practice, are central to the mission of PYP schools.
Given the variety and complexity of PYP schools, and the elusive nature of the concept itself, it would be naive to propose any simple definition and expect it to stand up to rigorous examination. Rather, the IB would suggest that the definition is compound, reflecting a range of interrelated factors that are discussed throughout this document.
However, in examining these factors during the years since the inception of the PYP, one aspect of PYP schools emerges, not only as the most compelling, but also as the common ground on which PYP schools stand, the essence of what they are about. This is the kind of student we hope will graduate from a PYP school, the kind of student who, in the struggle to establish a personal set of values, will be laying the foundation upon which international-mindedness will develop and flourish. The attributes of such a learner are listed in the learner profile (see figure 1). The learner profile is central to the PYP definition of what it means to be internationally minded, and it directs schools to focus on the learning. IB World Schools should be proud to send out into the world students who exemplify the attributes expressed in this profile.
What are the beliefs and values that drive the PYP?
The IB is conscious that this learner profile is value-laden and, it would say, quite rightly so, for this kind
of learning is what the IB supports, and it is the embodiment of what the IB believes about international
education. The attributes described in the learner profile are appropriate to, and achievable by, all primary years students. The teacher needs to interpret these attributes in a manner appropriate to the age and development of the student. That said, part of the adaptability and versatility of the programme lies in what these attributes may look like from one school culture to another.
In the PYP, it is both recognized and appreciated that students come into the programme from various
backgrounds and with a wealth of experience. All teachers have a responsibility to assess student
development in the context of the IB learner profile; it affects all students throughout the programme.
Schools have a responsibility on behalf of all students to assess and report on progress in the development of the attributes of the learner profile.
What, then, is a PYP school? It is a school that, regardless of location, size or constitution, strives towards developing an internationally minded person. What is an internationally minded person? It is a person who demonstrates the attributes of the IB learner profile.